Chairman's rallying call

Rummenigge’s appeal to the spirit of 2001

Created on 18-05-2012 at 00:00 AM

The mother of all defeats in 1999 was unique, but another lost final could yet be the catalyst for a stunning triumph. “We've missed out on this trophy once before, so we're even more motivated now," said Philipp Lahm, thinking back to the 2–0 loss to Inter in 2010. “The belief we can win this trophy is greater than it was two years ago," the club captain declared.

In 2001, Bayern wiped away the memory of the agonising defeat to Manchester United in Barcelona with victory in Milan, and history is poised to repeat itself, just as Karl-Heinz Rummenigge mused at the post-match banquet in 2010. “I'd like us perhaps to be back in the final in 2012 and then win it," the chairman said in Madrid, “let's do it like in 1999! Back then, the players had hit rock bottom, but they picked themselves up again immediately and started again from scratch."